Sources have announced that the FMV sequences for Square's highly anticipated Final Fantasy IX are now finished. The FMV sequences were created at Square's Honolulu studio, the same location that the Final Fantasy Movie is being worked on. However, the team that created the FMV has now been released from Square. From our understanding, this really isn't that uncommon, as employment contracts for all animation and game designers are for only a single game. Many of the artists, however, continue to work for Square; such was the case with Parasite Eve. After the artists from Parasite Eve were released, many went on working with other games, and some have even gone to work on the Final Fantasy Movie.

Early on, Square was attempting to have a release date of 9-9-99 for Final Fantasy IX in Japan, but unforeseen difficulties made that an impossibility. The game is currently scheduled for a spring of 2000 release in Japan. The next installment of the behemoth series that is Final Fantasy is almost here. Stay tuned to RPGamer for new details as we get them.